She said YES to a Baptismal Date!!!

Oh my goodness Mom, yes! 2 Nephi: Chapter 4 is like my favorite chapter ever, that and chapter 31. Those are like the most marked up scriptures I have in my whole book.  -- --

(This is Elder Yukish responding to a paragraph from a letter  his mother sent to him, which is as follows: 

"I have been reading the Book of Mormon, and came across a really cool part in 2 Nephi, Chapter 4 that really struck me last night.  Lehi and his family have just reached the Promised Land, and Lehi blesses all of his children and then dies.  Nephi buries him and then in total humility prays to the Lord.  He has suffered so much tribulation - everything from his brothers trying to kill him every time he turns around, to being in the wilderness for 30 years, but through it all he is extremely obedient to the Lord, and stays righteous through it all.  In Chapter 4 vs. 28 Nephi prays 'Awake, my soul !  No longer droop in sin.  Rejoice, O my heart, and give place no more for the enemy of my soul.  Do not anger again because of mine enemies.  Do not slacken my strength because of mine afflictions.  Rejoice, O my heart, and cry unto the Lord, and say:  O Lord, I will praise thee forever; yea, my soul will rejoice in thee my God, and be the rock of my salvation.' 

I love that part.  He went through a lot, and he will not slacken his faith, or his strength, or his mood or attitude because of his afflictions.  WE shouldn't either.  I feel like some days we suffer more affliction than other days, and I'm trying to not slacken because of them." )

It's rainy and cold here too. I am not looking forward to the freezing cold! I've already pulled out my fur hat and scarf and winter jacket because I’m dying!

 

This week has been a fantastic one! Elder Green and I are still loving life. We had one day where he got a little down because he felt that we weren’t very effective missionaries. we only were teaching about 11 lessons a week and we spend a lot of time on our bikes. The new place we live is great but the place its located at is at the bottom of a huge hill and it’s the top farthest left of our area and so we have to travel along time to all of our appointments. We are averaging 3 hours on our bikes. He feels like we aren’t doing that much. He came from a car area with a companion that had been there for 4 transfers so he had a ton of appointments with members, less actives and a few investigators. When you’re in a car area you can do that but with us on a bike we get a lot less but most of them are more meaningful.

The last week that Elder Saunders was here we had one of those amazing follow the spirit experiences. we parked our bikes at the head of Hillcrest road and started walking because we were going to tracked it. For some reason we didn’t knock on any doors because they didn’t feel good. We walked down to the end of the street and knocked on one door. This lady came to the door and we talked for a little bit and invited us in. We taught her a bit of the Restoration and then I had this burning desire to commit her to baptism. So I committed her to a conditional invite of "as you come to know it’s true will you be baptized." She said yeah I think so. I was like what? you said yes?

 So we went back again this Friday and taught her some of the plan of salvation and then again I had a burning desire to give her a baptismal date. SHE ACCEPTED!!!!!! We left there jumping for joy! I haven't felt this kind of joy before! I am so excited! I was floating on air! So it has been a great week!

 I'm sorry to hear about Grandpa Mitchell. I have an email from Grandma and I’m going to read it and write them back. I'm glad to hear Tod is doing well and that Brock is getting all grown up! I miss him a ton. There's this one family in the ward that we have been having dinner with and they have a 4 year old boy that is spunky like Brock and it just makes me miss him even more!

 I’m so happy to hear from you Mom. I miss you most of all. I’m so glad to hear that you're reading the Book of Mormon and finding joy in it. It means so much to me and I want everyone to feel of the joy that it brings. I'm so grateful to be on my mission.

 Oh I was sitting in Elders Quorum yester day and had a itch on my ankle and then I felt my calf... HOLY COW!! It’s huge! Its like a solid rock! That’s the beauty of riding a bike all day!

Well I Love you so much and can't wait to hear from you next week

Love

Elder Yukish

New Companion -Elder Green

Hey Mom!

So this week has been great! I actually found out I'm staying here in the downtown Canton area. I only have a few minutes to write tonight because we've been moving all day and we've got to get back to work. I have a great new companion. His name is Elder Green. He was in our district last transfer and they just moved him to my area. He and I came out at the same time so we are two greenies working together. I guess that’s pretty rare. It’s awesome though he's a hard worker and is so up for riding bikes as much as me. We talked to the AP's and asked them how often greenies get put together and they said never. I was pretty blown back by that. It made me realize how much trust was put in our companionship. I love Elder Green he's a great missionary. This will be a great transfer with a lot of growth.

 I have moved to a new place and am supper excited about it!

The house is:

 3013 Treeside St NW

 Canton OH 44709

I was hoping that I could ask you to send me some music. I would like any church music you can find, borrow some from someone and copy or whatever you can. The only "rules" on the music is that it has to be a hymn if it’s not sung by MOTAB, and anything that MOTAB sings is allowed! So if you could find good stuff or if you have got good stuff lying around send it to me! It really helps the missionary day go by and the helps break up the monotonies!

The one CD that I REALLY want is by "Lower Lights" I'll attach a picture of the CD case so you can look for it.

I gotta run! Duty calls!

Love

Elder Yukish

DOOOO WHAAAAA???

Ok. So this week has been a crazy one! Its transfer week and crazy things are happening. We have some great investigators and some crazy people that were teaching too.

 Last night was one of the craziest ever. We were having a great day. Had a really good district meeting in the morning after our studies. We went out for lunch at the mall and had a great time. Elder Saunders and I worked really hard the rest of the day. We parked our bikes at the beginning of a street and were going to go tracting but just kind of started walking down the street. The road came to a fork and we sat there for a second and decided that we should go left. We walked down a couple of houses and then decided to knock this one house. We knocked and a lady answered. We talked for a bit and started teaching her the restoration. Then she asked us to come in and sit down. So we went a little more into the restoration. Towards the end of the lesson I got a really strong prompting to commit her to baptism (keep in mind this is the first time we met her) I said " as you come to know these things are true will you follow the example of your savior Jesus Christ and be baptized by one holding the proper Priesthood authority?". She looked at us for a second and asked "how can I know to come if these things are true?" I realized we hadn't taught her about prayer. So we did and she agreed to be baptized if she knew it was true. I was like HOLY COW... did that just work? 

 I also have another thing that happed. My companion and I were thirsty and we decided to go to this gas station that has fountain drinks any size 59 cents. We went in and got our pops and walked up to the teller. He rung us up and we said thank you and started walking away. We were almost at the door and the guy said "hey how can I get a Book of Mormon, and can you guys come over and we can talk about it?" again I was like DOOOO WHAAAAA???? So we went back and started talking to him and found out he tried to get a Book of Mormon from the web site but never had the courage to go through with it. We said hey any time anywhere we can drop off a Book of Mormon and talk with you about it. So we have an appointment with him later today.

 The thing that has built my testimony up about these two experiences is prayer. Elder Saunders and I decided to pray with real intent to get a baptism this month. President has promised us that if we pray and are faithful we will get at least one a month. So this month we are trying it and its working! I don’t know if we will get a baptism but those people weren’t just put in our path for no reason.

 So back to our crazy night last night. Elder Saunders and I have been working hard and riding bikes like crazy people. Last night after our dinner with the Davis family we had to travel down to kinda the other side of our area. We were running a few minutes ahead so we decided just to take it easy as we were riding and not kill ourselves to get there. We were traveling down 22^nd street and all was well. It was a slight hill which was nice so we could just coast. I was about 20 yards behind my companion and all of the sudden he looked back to make sure I was still behind him and then he hit a pot hole and crashed crazy hard.

 I was like oh no this is not going to be good. Sure enough I got up to him and it wasn't pretty. He was knocked unconscious and was scraped up pretty bad. I rolled him over and pulled him up on to the driveway closest to us. I put my back pack under his head and took the towel out of my bag and started to take care of his cuts. Luckily we are in the same area that our zone leaders are and so I called them and got them out of their dinner appointment and had them come and pick us up. While I was dealing with my companion that was now starting to regain consciousness and yelling - waking up the whole neighborhood - people started coming out and trying to help. It was nice to have a community that was so willing to help but I had to keep telling people to not call an ambulance.

 We sat there for about 20 minutes while the zone leaders came and we rushed him to the emergency room. We got him there and they checked him out and let him chill in the waiting room for a while. Man he's like a mean drunk. As he was coming too he started saying out loud that " all the people in the waiting room were a bunch of hypochondriacs and he was the only one that really needed help" It was so funny but kinda embarrassing. I got to go back with him and help with info and paper work. All that really did for me is solidify how much I hate hospitals.

 We were there for about 4 hours from like 7:40 till almost 1 at night. It was crazy. Lucky for him he got to sleep in past morning workout and studies and stuff but I had to be up at 630..

 He broke his elbow and he also broke his cheek bone. We just found out about an hour ago that he is going to have to go home for at least 12 weeks for surgery and physical therapy. It’s a sad day. But things happen and life goes on. I also got to give him a blessing which is my first one so that’s pretty cool.

 Hey Mom happy birthday by the way! What are your plans for your very special day?

 Thanks everyone that wrote me this week! There were so many it was awesome! I don’t have enough time to email all of you back but if you send me your addresses then I will write you some letters with the rest of my P-day. Thank you all for the support and love! It really means so much when times are tough to come here and listen to the words of my family!

We are moving this Saturday so I will let you all know what my new address is next week because I can’t remember it haha. BUT it’s a sweet place. Three story 3 bedrooms 2 1/2 bath town house and its going to be a nice change from the pit we live in now... oh wait just got a call that I’m getting transferred... POOP!!!

Till next week

LOVE FROM

Elder Yukish

Attitude of Gratitude

Dear Mommy,

 This week has been a great one! Thank you so much for the package! Everyone loved the cookies! They were gone by the end of the first session of Saturday’s Conference. I love the slippers and the hat and wear them everywhere! The Seahawks shirt is amazing very comfortable and warm!

 The weather here has turned deathly cold. Haha! It’s freezing! Tracting in 43 degree weather with a light drizzle and 10 mile an hour winds straight in the face makes for a new experience of its own! It really is nice because I don't sweat that much when I ride my bike.

 I loved General Conference this weekend! I loved every one of the talks that were given. I felt like every one of them was directed straight towards me and my benefit as a missionary and as a man. I too loved our Prophet’s talk on gratitude. It really made me think of what I am thankful for and how much I have been given in my life. Sometimes you take for granted what you have till it’s all gone. I felt like needed to ask for forgiveness of my ungratefulness in my life.

 I am grateful for the home we all lived in together as a family. I am so grateful for the time we spent with all of our family eating enchiladas. I am VERY grateful for enchiladas (no one knows how to make them here.  I feel like I have eaten more chilli and soup than one person should ever have to eat in their lifetime). I am grateful for the lessons I've learned and the example of good parents and good members of the church you all are to me. I am grateful for the sacrifice you've made for me to be on this mission. I don't know what I would do without these blessings that I have received since I've been out here.

 The Lord does work in mysterious ways. I know that he has a plan for me here in this mission. I know God knows me personally. He knows my strength and knows how best to build me up and make me the best I can be. I am grateful for the opportunity that the Lord has given me to put everything off, to trust fully in Him, know that he loves me and that there is work for me to do here. Sometimes it’s hard to put off myself and my doubts and fears. I struggle to put my full faith in Him, but when I do, at that moment I feel closer to Him than I ever have before. In that moment my fear is gone and I have the most success as a missionary and as a tool in His hands. I am grateful for the scriptures and the guidance they are in my life. I am grateful for our living Prophet and the guidance he give me personally.

 I am grateful to be a missionary.

 I love the pictures! Man Brock is starting to look like a big kid now. Tod looks like he's gotten skinnier? Well it’s time for me to go. We are having a zone p-day and we're going to go play some Ultimate Frisbee out in the cold.... yeah...

I love you mom and I hope you have a great week!

Love

Elder Yukish

p.s.

Word of advice for the day…. Don't run and jump on to a new mission bed, especially if you’re a big guy, for you will break the bed and be seriously chastised for doing so. And thus I say amen.... Haha!

Week 2 - Canton, OH

Wow OK! So what a week! It flew by!  One minute I was sitting here in the library and now I'm in the library again!

I'm so happy to hear from so many people this week! I love the encouragement that all of my family gives me!

So here is my first return and report. My investigator from last week. I committed him to baptism and he rejected. But that's OK he had a lot of really good concerns. So this week we are planning on addressing all of his concerns that we didn't get to last week. He felt more comfortable with the things we explained to him but he still needed to find his testimony of the Book of Mormon and that this is the True Church!

As an answer to my prayer and twelve and a half hours of tracting we did last week, we found a few more investigators. One guy wants to have his whole apartment complex have a Book of Mormon study class on Tuesday mornings. We taught them this morning and there were a lot of people interested! It’s amazing! So basically we have a pool of potential investigators to work with. We've also tracted into a few people to work with.

Our ward mission leader is like a super star!  It’s very weird to me to be involved in Ward Counsel Meetings.  I guess I'm just not used to the Stake President looking at me on equal ground. It’s awesome to be there though because it really helps out with our missionary work and the direction that the ward is going with their ward mission plan. I feel so much more in the loop.

Yesterday, Monday the 13th, we went to the Johnson Farm, which is the other historical site here in Ohio. We got to go in the Johnson home where the Prophet had been. We were in the room in where the mob pulled Joseph Smith out of his bed at night and tarred and feathered him. 

The amazing story about that room is after they tarred and feathered him, and even tried to poison him, the Prophet walked back to the house and that night they scraped all the tar off of him and in the morning he preached to a congregation of 150 on the front steps of that house. There were people from the mob there that didn't expect him to show up and were hoping he wouldn't, but he did and taught a powerful lesson. The Prophet even converted some of the men that tried to kill him.

Man, when I stood there on that hallowed ground my testimony was strengthened beyond belief. I know that Joseph Smith is a true Prophet. I know that the Book of Mormon that I study and share with all I meet is a true book of the Doctrine of Jesus Christ our Savior, our Redeemer. I'm so glad that I'm here to share the Gospel with the people of Ohio. I don't think I could find a more joyful thing in my life.

After that time in the Johnson home we had an awesome activity called Zoned Out! Three Zones from half of the mission got together and played games. We played trivia games on our knowledge of Preach My Gospel, Scriptures, Church History and Missionary rules. Then after that we had an awesome relay race between the three zones. Needless to say our zone won. We had a dramatic come from behind victory (we planned it that way... OK not really). My part of the relay was to eat a cup of dirt and worms! No,  not real dirt and worms, but crushed up Oreos and gummy worms. Between my companion and me we caught our zone up then pulled ahead. We killed it after that! But it was just a fun competition plus I guess we can’t be too proud because we were against the Kirtland Zone which is almost all Sisters. It was a lot of fun and we got to see so many other missionaries that are our friends so it was great!

Mom. That's awesome that Shannon and Marlene are there helping and visiting. I really hope you don't break Shannon. I miss you guys so much and can’t wait to hear more next week.

Dad and Kina, Thanks for the package with the protein bars in it and the pictures. I only got it yesterday because the mission office staff was there at Hyrum to bring it to me

Aunt Susan, Thanks so much for the words encouragement and love! I'm happy that the AZ family is up visiting with you guys!

Jed, I'm so happy to hear that you’re going to seminary.  I went to seminary yesterday too!  It was awesome. I remember how I felt after I had seminary every day. It was always the best way to start the day! I hope your finding joy in reading the scriptures. I know how important that it is the have that time everyday to study. I only get an hour which probably sounds like a lot, but to me it’s not even close to enough I find myself eating lunch fast so that I have extra time to study! I'm so glad to hear that you’re starting to feel the Spirit in your life. I hope your committing now to serve a mission. It’s a process and if you start now you will be so much more prepared.

Grandpa and Grandma, It’s so amazing to ready some of your stories. I have been keeping a journal almost every day. I hope one day I can share my stories with my children and grandchildren and they can be a source of comfort and joy and direction as your stories are to me.

We call this the "White Rhino"!

 Well it’s time to get back to work! I love every one of you and I hope you all stay strong in the gospel and love each other. I would challenge everyone to pick up their Book of Mormons and begin to read it again. Also study in the Doctrine and Covenants and find the ones that are direct revelation given in Kirtland and in Hyrum. Remember I've been there and I know there spirit that is in those rooms and I know those are true doctrines that came from those rooms.

With so much love from your son, grandson, nephew and brother

Elder Yukish

Oh p.s. the address here is

Elder Yukish

123 17th St NW APT# 2

Canton, OH 44703

It’s going to change but not as soon as we thought. I'll let you know when it does.

Elder Yukish's first week - Canton, OH

Ok so today is Wednesday the 8th. We didn’t get a chance to email on Monday because it was Labor Day and the library was closed.

My first week is going great! Had a lot of things happen.

The first day we went to Kirtland and got to kneel in the School of the Prophets and pray to Heavenly Father to commit to what type of missionary we will be. Man I tell you that was so amazing. We got to go on a private tour with this guy that is like THE Church Historian of Kirtland.

We got to sit in the Revelation Room and talk about how great our call is. I was asked to share my feelings on what was going on in that room. I said that the veil was so thin in that room. I felt like Joseph himself was walking around and touching each one of us, promising us that if we work we will be blessed, and that he blessed us with his own personal protection. It was amazing.

My first companion is Elder Saunders. He's a pretty cool guy, really quiet but has a good spirit about him. The area I'm serving in is the Downtown Canton area. It.... is the ghetto.. Haha! But it’s not all bad. The first day I was with my companion we went tracking. The 3rd door we knocked on was a golden investigator. We talked to him on his front porch and just got to know him. He had a kid die at 6 years old about 6 years ago. He was a Catholic but lost all faith after his kid died. He is now looking for a church to go back to and trying to find his faith in God. We taught him on Friday night. It went amazing! The Spirit was there so strong. We asked him to pray at the end and in his prayer he said how thankful he was for the missionaries to be at his house and he knew we were answers to his prayers. We have another lesson with him tomorrow and we're (or rather I) am going to commit him to baptism.

I’m not as nervous as I thought I would be. It’s really easy when you have the Spirit.

I’m in a biking area, and there are a lot of hills. The first few days I sweated though my shirts. Mom I had to buy a few more. That’s where the Sears money came from. I’m starting to get used to it though. Once it’s your only mode of transportation you work hard to move fast. I love how much more energy I have now. I almost got mugged already but it’s all good. We parked our bikes in a bad spot and this guy said he wanted our bikes and he'd give us $50 for them. We said no and started to ride off. He yelled at us and told us he was going to come after us and he started to get in his car but we were long gone. No biggie.

Mom I don’t know when you’re going to be back to AZ but if you could send me my blanket that would be awesome. I have an address but it’s not going to still be valid in a week because we're moving to a bigger apartment. We live with the zone leaders in a two bedroom apartment that should only fit two people but there's four of us. Haha. So it’s pretty cramped. But the new place is awesome. Dad I figured I could use some protein powder since I'm working my legs like crazy. I really love that stuff in the purple label, and the chocolate kind :) I’m excited to hear that Zach is having fun at football and that Ben is working on his physical fitness. Have him try to ride a bike 15 miles a day Haha that will get him into shape like it is me too!

Oh Mom do you remember that video of the Ohio clean up thing after the storm? If you can find it watch it and look for elder Thornton. He's my zone leader. He's an awesome guy.

How are the Hawkins?

How's all the rest of the family? Yukish side and Mitchell side?

Oh Kina your friend that I met is in my ward! She's awesome! So funny and made me feel so welcome to the ward! She told me that you two were quite the pair in high school!

Grandpa and Grandma, thanks for that scripture it was so awesome! I've really grown to love my scriptures and the stories and lessons you can learn from them. Getting 2 hours every morning to study is the best thing that has ever happened to me.

One scripture I’ve been focusing on these past few days is 2 Nephi 31. I'd like to invite everyone to read it for FHE. It is the example of Jesus Christ and being Baptized. We are really trying to teach our investigators this. Will you commit to reading that for me? Haha pun!

I have been keeping a journal almost every day. I love it. Helps me so much in growing my testimony and remembering the good things throughout the day.

Tod I hope your healing well. Don’t be lazy.. Haha. I tell you what, I so have a strong testimony of hard work. There are Elders here that just don’t know how to work hard. I’m glad you taught me that even though I probably didn’t show it before, but I’m so glad I know how to work now.

My bike is the coolest bike I’ve ever seen. It’s a Trek 4300. It’s so comfortable and really nice. It’s got low, middle, and high gears and then it’s got 8 speeds. It’s nice because I don’t have to be one of those big guys walking my bike up the hills. It’s going to stink in the winter but it'll be ok.

I'm excited to hear that there's a blog up to keep everyone updated.

I send everyone my love! I’m so thankful for everyone’s support. I feel that love walking along with me as I walk down the streets of Downtown Canton. I don’t know how I could do this by myself.

I will write with my address next week but feel free to send things to the mission home through Postal Service. They will be able to forward that to me wherever I am.

I Love you all so much!

Love Elder Yukish

MTC Ending

Letter sent regular mail: August 27, 2010

Dear Mom and Tod,

So, I’ve reached the end of my MTC experience! Finally!! No, just kidding. I’ve loved it here! The food is awesome, the people are awesome. I feel so much more confident than I did at the beginning. I finally feel ready to go to work.

It has still been hard to get along with a companion, but I’m working hard on patience. I will be very excited to meet my first real companion. I really hope he’s a hard worker. I really have been praying for a companion to help me.

This will be the last letter I send home from the MTC! I feel like it flew by so fast. If my mission actually goes this fast I’ll be home in no time.

Thank you so much for the cupcakes and the Abba Zabbas. I was able to share them with my District and my roommates. I was surprised at how few people liked the Abba Zabbas. I thought it was joyous for everyone, but I was wrong. Haha!

My companion is the other big guy in the pictures. It is nice to have another big guy in my District, but I wish I had a small companion so I could follow his eating habits.

What is Pamela’s address so I can write her?

I’m glad to hear Tod’s doing good. I love the pictures you sent me. I’m making a box for my scriptures and I’m putting family pictures on them and those will work perfectly!

Also, thanks for the pens. They are awesome and write so softly. I bought a pocket protector because it seems that leaking pens in the pocket is a big problem here. It may be nerdy, but I’m the only one in the District that hasn’t had a pen leak in their pocket!

Well, I’m going to bed. I love you all so much. I feel your love all the time. I keep you all in my prayers. I can’t wait to see everyone again!

Love, Elder Yukish (Your Son – Best one ever) :-)

OH MY GOSH!!  I almost forgot to mention.  On Tuesday night for our devotional we had Jeffrey Holland!! He came to yell at us and tell us how much he loves us!  He talked about not giving up!  How better we can feel the Spirit and things that missionaries need to improve on.  His three things that we need to improve on is 1) Studying as companions 2) Planning and 3) Teaching with POWER and AUTHORITY which I'm sure makes some sense to you, but it really strikes home with me and my goals of improvement.

So anyway, that's how it's been going with me.  I love you and I'll write you when I'm in Cleveland.  Tell me when you are going back to Arizona so I can change where I send mail.